Quick Start Propels Army Past Air Force

NEW YORK CITY – The Army West Point men’s basketball team lead wire-to-wire in its 79-54 victory over service-academy rival Air Force in a Sunday Matinee at Madison Square Garden.

The Black Knights were busy from behind-the-arc, setting a season high in makes (16) while shooting better than 50 percent from deep for the second time this season. Army shot at a clip of 52.4 percent (11-of-21) from downtown in the first half and finished at 51.6 (16-of-31) for the game. Additionally, the Cadets shot 42.6 percent from the floor (26-of-61) and 78.6 percent from the charity stripe (11-of-14).

Leading that effort was junior guard Jordan Fox, who finished 4-of-4 from long range and tied Tommy Funk for a team-high 16 points. Funk tied his career-high in points for the fourth time this season and sixth time overall. Tucker Blackwell (3-of-5), Luke Morrison (3-of-11), John Emezie (2-of-3) and Funk (3-of-6) also hit multiple treys in the contest for the Black Knights. Fox added a game-high four steals and four assists, while Funk tallied a game-high five helpers.

Jacob Kessler and Matt Wilson recorded a team-high six rebounds, with Wilson chipping in five on the offensive glass. Morrison also pulled down five rebounds.

Army limited the Falcons to 9-of-30 (30.0 percent) shooting from downtown and 14-of-57 (24.6 percent) in the game.

The Cadets jumped out to an early lead thanks to a pair of 11-2 runs in the first half. The initial rally came in the opening 2:06 as Army drained its first four shots of the afternoon, including a pair of treys by Fox. The next run came over a stretch of 5:13 to increase the Cadets’ lead to 27-12 with 7:35 remaining in the opening period.

After leading by nine at the break, 40-31, Army went on a 10-1 run early in the second half to push its advantage to 50-35. The Black Knights were then able to increase its edge to 20 with a Kessler layup at the 10:41 mark before reaching a game-high 27-point lead at 79-52 with 1:39 remaining on the clock.

The Falcons were never able to recover.

The Black Knights begin Patriot League play on Dec. 29 at Boston U. and is scheduled to tip off at 7 p.m.